Baltimore 1805. When young Sarah Cunningham's father dies, she is left alone in the world. At the behest of her aunt, she leaves behind her few friends and heads across the ocean to the hope of a new life in England with a distant relative.Little does Sarah suspect that her journey will carry her much farther than a mere ocean's width. For as she crosses the Atlantic, powerful magics are being worked by Lady Sarah Roxbury. Lying on her deathbed, Roxbury casts a spell that will summon her counterpart form the universe-next-door...Sarah.Waking, Sarah finds herself in a world not her own, a world where the Stuart kings still rule England, where Baltimore and the original thirteen United States are still British colonies, where Napoleon runs rampant on the European continent, a world where she is the Lady Roxbury. Under the influence of a steady supply of drugs and insidious manipulation, Sarah comes to believe that she is Roxbury, and soon finds herself embroiled deep in the machinations of court intrigue and scandal. She also comes to despise her intended, the Duke of Wessex.As the threat of a French invasion grows, the only hope for England is a peace treaty with Denmark. But when the Princess of Denmark goes missing and France's agent, the Marquis de Sade, is found in council with Denmark's king, it is up to Sarah and Wessex to put aside their differences.Together they must find a way to rescue the princess from her captivity deep in the black heart of Imperial France before Napoleon can cross the channel and utterly destroy England.In a tale as rousing, romantic, and full of intrigue a The Scarlet Pimpernel, Andre Norton and Rosemary Edghill have created an alternate history as real as our own and as fresh as today.

Write-up from the back of the TOR paperback edition ~

England 1805,Emperor Napoleon had kidnapped the Princess of Denmark in a plot to upset Europe’s tenuous balance of power. Only Lord Wessex, Agent of King Henry IX, can recover the princess and thwart Napoleon’s plans, or all of Europe could fall to France.But Wessex has an unsuspected ally in his perilous mission. Magic has replaced his fiancée Sarah,, the vain and haughty Marchioness of Roxbury, with the passionate and courageous Sarah of another world, one where England’s American colonies are called the “United States.”Sarah quickly becomes the wild card in a deadly game played out across Europe with players ranging from Sir John Adams to the Marquis de Sale. As Sarah and Wessex tread a path toward destiny, they discover that tyheir mission is more important than they could imagine. For if they fail, Napoleon will control more than Europe – he’ll rule the world….“A great combination and a great read! Regency devotees will find this much to their liking even if they haven’t ever dabbled in science fiction / fantasy.” – Anne McCaffrey

Write-ups from fans ~

In 1805, in an alternate world, where King Charles II admitted to having married the Earl of Monmouths's mother, thereby making the Earl his legitimate son and preventing James II of Scotland from taking the throne, the whole track of history changes. James II does not rule England and there is no uprising against his harsh and cruel reign. The Hanovers’ never succeed to the English throne and the American colonies do not rebel against restrictive taxes.In this world the Oldest People, the fay and fairies still exist. In this world Sarah Conyngham, Marchioness of Roxberry, mistress of Mooncign, lays dying having failed to fulfill her obligation to the Oldest People from whom she holds Mooncoign in trust. To prevent this catastrophe, she summons her counterpart from another world, Sarah Cunningham of an independent United States.Sarah, Lady Roxbury, had been betrothed at the age of 16 to the Duke of Wessex, who spends his time and patriotic efforts to covertly assisting England in its war with Napoleon. He counts on Lady Roxbury to help in this -- he just isn't aware that the Lady Roxbury he knows is not who he thinks she is. Sarah Cunningham of Baltimore, MD. is a whole "nother kettle of fish". Together the Duke and Sarah of Baltimore recover the lost prince of France, King Louis XVII, foil a plot to wed Prince James of England to a Catholic bride thereby returning the restrictive Catholic faith to England. They then rescue Princess Stephanie of Denmark, who is engaged to Prince James to seal a treaty with Denmark, thereby gaining another ally in the fight against Napoleon. Sounds complicated, doesn't it? But it moves along nicely, with some rather funny moments. ~ SL

Alternate dimensions, different histories, magic, fairy folk, spies and kings and the cream of society chases and intrigue make this book a joy. Sarah Cunningham of Baltimore in our world is magically transported to another world to replace her dying counterpart, Lady Roxbury. In Roxbury's world, the Stuarts never lost the throne and King George never ruled and there was no American revolution. France still owns what in our world is the Louisiana Purchase. The English Monarchy allow the white witches to flourish and condone contacts with the eldest people (fairy folk). The heir to the French throne is hiding from Napoleon and his henchmen Talleyrand and the Marquis de Sade. There is a proposed marriage of England's crown prince to Princess Stephanie of Denmark to cement a treaty that would deny Napoleon a staging area for an attack on England. Meanwhile, an ambitious Earl tries to match his niece, Lady Meriel, with the Prince to sabotage the king's plans. Sarah has been given false memories and thinks she is Lady Roxbury. King Henry forces Sarah to marry the equally reluctant Duke of Wessex, his favorite spy, assassin and member of a secret organization that is dedicated to the king's service. Then Stephanie is kidnapped by the Marquis de Sade, Sarah and Meriel are abducted by her Uncle. Wessex and his partner must search for the missing women as well as the missing Dauphin (who would be King Louis the XVII).Unexpectedly, he gets help from his resourceful wife, Sarah who in our world had been fostered by a tribe of Cree who trained her as a warrior. All in all, it is a wild ride. ~ PG

1999 by John C. Bunnell in Amazing Stories, Summer1999 by Carolyn Cushman in Locus, #458, March1999 by Tom Arden in Interzone, #144, June

Dedications and Acknowledgements ~

I'd like to thank Sherwood Smith for help and quick answers to tough research questions involving the France of 1805; Andrew Sigel for settling thorny questions of proper address; the rest of the SFRT1 gang (of fond memory, alas) for the usual hijinks (hi, Ester! hi, Lois!); Jennera for putting up with the ussual fuss; Jane Emerson, for Lt. Stephen Price of the Royal Engineers; and (of course) the Lady herself, Andre Norton, for her endless patience and graciousness during the long, drawn-out, and sometimes downright baffling process of writting a collaboration. It's been a privalege to work with her and learn from her.- Rosemary Edghill

(2000) Published in Poland; by Amber, 83-724-5340-3, 318pg ~ translation by Jan Śpiewak or Robert Pryliński? ~ cover by Steve Crisp ~ Polish title Cień Albionu ~ (republished in 2007 with cover by John Hove)

(2003) Published in Moscow, by Eksmo and St. Petersburg, by Domino, 5-699-03700-4, HC, 496pg ~ translation by O. Stepashkin ~ cover by Victoria Poyser ~ Russian title Тень Альбиона